Because You're Mine
by BoysGoToJupiter
Summary: In Garen's final year at Northern Rift High School, he falls for the most unlikely of people... the person he claimed to hate turns into the one he never wants to leave. A Garen/Darius fanfiction for my OTP babies.
1. Chapter 1

Garen left the classroom at the sound of laughing around the corner. He stepped around the corner and saw Darius and a group of his thugs harassing a girl in the hallway.

"Dammit, Darius, knock it off, would you?" Garen sighed loudly and stepped in between Darius and the girl.

"What are you going to do about it, punk?" Darius growled, glaring at him.

Garen crossed his arms and glared right back. He was not going to be intimidated by Darius like everyone else was. He was the only one that would stand up to him because everyone else was too afraid. It didn't matter to Garen if he was the best basketball player or best wrestler, he was not going to stand idly by while he harassed someone.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, you're too much of a coward." Darius laughed loudly. "Come on, let's leave these two losers."

Garen glared at Darius as he left and rounded the corner with his little gang. He huffed loudly and turned to the girl behind him. "Are you alright?" He asked, helping her up from the ground.

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine." She reassured, brushing off her skirt.

"Why was he harassing you anyways?" Garen asked, kneeling down and picking up all her scattered books.

"I accidently bumped into him." The girl stated simply.

"That sounds about right." Garen sighed and stood up, handing the girl her books.

"Thank you so much for the help." She smiled up at him, standing on her tippy toes and kissing his cheek and turning on her heel to leave.

"N-No problem." He replied, turning bright red as she skipped down the hallway happily.

Garen was standing in the hall smiling to himself as his cellphone rang. "Hello?" He answered it.

"Garen, where the hell are you? You're going to be late for practice!" It was Jarvan.

"Oh, shit, I completely forgot." Garen's eyes widened, the whole situation with Darius and that girl had completely distracted him.

"Get your ass over here!" Jarvan told him and hung up.

Garen stuffed his phone in his pocket and ran down the stairs. The coach was going to be pissed at him if he was late again. He always stayed after class to help Morgana with her Calculus homework. Although Garen didn't want to admit it, he excelled in school, especially math. It was something not a lot of people knew about him because he always hung around with the jock crowd since he was on the football team. A lot to people assumed he was another unintelligent muscle guy that played football, and he let them because he didn't care enough to tell them otherwise.

Garen pushed open the door and stepped outside, the chilly fall air sending a shiver down his spine. He pulled his blue scarf out of his backpack and wrapped it around his neck before heading to the football field. He would have run there, but he had some shred of dignity. So instead, he walked at a brisk pace, letting the scarf blow in the wind behind him.

Garen arrived at the field about ten minutes late. His teammates had already started drills as he walked up, hoping to sneak by the coach and slip into the locker rooms.  
"CROWNGUARD." The coach bellowed across the field, making Garen nearly jump out of his skin. Garen gulped and looked over to him slowly. The coach had a very angry expression on his face and signaled for Garen to come over to him. "Did I tell you all to stop?" He yelled, looking back at all the players on the field, causing them all to very hurriedly continued their drills.

"What do you think you're doing, Crownguard?" The coach asked angrily as Garen approached.

"Going to change into my uniform?" Garen replied like a smart-ass.

"Funny." The coach's face showed he was not amused with his response. "Why are you late again?"

"I was helping a friend with her homework." Garen answered honestly, averting his attention to the scarf around his neck.

"Homework? Why are you wasting your time helping someone else? You need to be here for practice." The coach told him sternly, glaring at Garen.

"Well… I'm sorry, she needed help." Garen rubbed the back of his head, still not making eye contact.

"Just get into your uniform, you're going to be doing stairs for the entirety of practice." The coach dismissed him.

"B-But! I need to be practicing with the team to go over plays!" Garen exclaimed, looking at the coach now.

"You should have thought about that before you were late again." The coach shrugged and crossed his arms.

Garen sighed loudly and walked towards the locker room, his head hung in shame. Not only were stairs the worst, doing them alone let the entire team know you were in trouble. While Garen was extraordinary when it came to physical attributes, cardio, and overall strength, stairs was always a tough exercise, even for him.

Garen entered the empty locker room and opened his locker, setting his backpack in there and removing the scarf from around his neck. He wasn't particularly thrilled to be putting his uniform on, so he took his time. Once he was fully changed into his uniform, he sat on the bench and put his hands in his head. He felt very stressed out and he wasn't even sure why. It seemed to be a mixture of things: football, schoolwork, that girl that Darius was harassing, Darius himself. Garen sighed loudly and stood, exiting the locker room and stepping onto the field.

The coach was watching him sternly, pointing to the stairs where the stadium seats were. Garen sighed loudly and began up the stairs slowly at first before turning it into a run. He reached the top with ease and then ran back down. That was it. Up and down. Over and over.

After an hour he stopped at the top for a moment, drenched in sweat. He wiped his brow with the back of his head and looked at his teammates still going over drills. His eyes wondered a moment until he saw him; Darius. He was walking past the field with some of his basketball buddies. Garen squinted a little and noticed Darius was watching him, smirking. Garen grit his teeth and glared back.

"CROWNGUARD." His coach bellowed, making him jump and snapping his attention away from Darius.  
Garen started again, running down the stairs. Darius watched him the entire time until he was no longer in sight. Not only did his team know he was being punished, but now Darius knew. Garen grit his teeth again. That guy really ticked him off. He left his jaw slacken again. Gritting his teeth was too much work when he was as exhausted as he was.

Finally practice ended and Garen stood at the bottom of the stairs, covering head to toe in sweat. He was leaned over, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Two hours of stairs was too much, even for him. His main focus now was trying not to vomit on the field.

"Hey, nice job, Crownguard," The coach slapped his back, "didn't think you'd be able to do stairs the entire time."

Garen grunted in annoyance, unable to speak be was so tired. Jarvan walked over and pulled his helmet off. He grabbed one of Garen's arms and put it around his shoulder. He half walked, half carried Garen to the locker room and set him on the bench.

"Dude, Garen, you really need to come on time," Jarvan told him, sitting next to him,

"Yeah, thanks," Garen huffed loudly, rolling his eyes and removing his jersey, tossing it on the ground at his feet before removing his shoulder pads and chest pads and setting them on top of the jersey.

"Dude, have you been working out more?" Jarvan asked. "Your abs look even better than last time I saw them."

"Yeah, here and there," Garen admitted, still breathing hard, trying to catch his breath.

"You'll have to show me what you do sometime, but for now, I need to go shower and leave. I'm supposed to meet Shyvana for dinner." Jarvan stood and clapped Garen on the back. "Be on time for practice next time." He laughed and headed to the showers.

Garen laid down on the bench and put one arm over his eyes and let the other hang off the edge and brush against the ground. Not only was he exhausted, but he was also pissed that Darius smirked at him like that. He knew Darius did things to piss him off intentionally, but he couldn't help but get angry. He slowly shut his eyes when his breathing regulated. He didn't care how uncomfortable the bench was, he was so tired it felt like a soft bed. He slowly dozed off.

"Hey, Garen," Someone was shaking him awake.

Garen slowly opened his eyes and blinked a couple of time. "Xin?" He asked groggily and sat up.

"You fell asleep, everyone already left." Xin informed him and opened his locker to get his backpack.

Garen stretched his arms above his head and yawned. "How long was out?"

"I dunno… maybe an hour?" Xin shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"An hour!? What are you still doing here?" Garen stood up and grabbed a towel.

"I thought I'd let you sleep a little longer," He shrugged again. "You looked exhausted after having to run all those stairs."

"Thanks, Xin," Garen smiled at him, "and yeah, I was super tired."

"Well… have a nice night, Garen," Xin waved at him and left the locker room.

"You too," Garen waved back. He stood there for a second, towel slung over his shoulder, looking around the empty locker room. He wasn't sure if he had ever been in the locker room by himself. He shrugged and walked into the shower room. He was already shirtless so he removed his pants and boxers and turned the water on.

He turned the water as cold as it would go and stood under it. The icy water splashed onto him, sending a shiver down his spine. Garen enjoyed cold showers, but he never got used to that initial shock of cold water hitting his body. He closed his eyes and let the water run from his head, off his hair, and run down his body. He sighed loudly, trying to let himself relax under the water's cold touch.

After an abnormally long shower, Garen finally shut the water off and grabbed his towel, drying his hair. Sleeping for an hour on a bench did not do much to make him less tired. He yawned loudly and dried his back, thinking about what he was going to go eat after he got changed because he was starving.

He finished drying himself and wrapped the towel around his waist before leaving the showers. He shivered feeling the cool air touch his skin as he grabbed a new pair of boxers and put them on. The towel dropped from around his waist to the floor as he pulled up a pair of jeans. The weather had been strange the last few days; a lot colder than it normally was in September.

Garen thought he heard footsteps as he pulled the shirt down over his head. In the momentary darkness from the shirt obscuring his vision, Darius had managed to appear. Garen froze, shirt only halfway pulled down as he stared at Darius, more in surprise than anything else.

"What are you doing here?" Garen huffed, pulling his shirt down all the way and turning to pick up the towel that had dropped on the locker room floor.

"Saw the light on, thought I'd check it out," he shrugged.

"Well, you checked it out, now you can leave," Garen retrieved his backpack from his locker before promptly locking it.

"I saw you doing stairs… someone get in trouble?" Darius was smirking in his usual cocksure way.

"Fuck off, Darius," Garen growled in response.

"Quite the mouth on you, huh?" Darius grinned devilishly.

"Why are you really here?" Garen turned around and glared at him, annoyed that he wouldn't leave. He expected it had to do with the girl in the hallway from earlier.  
"Like I said, I saw the light on and came to check it out," He took a step closer, the grin never leaving his face.

Gare huffed loudly, figuring he was going to have to fight Darius. The last thing he needed was to suffer any injuries that would take him out of football practice. If he couldn't play in the next game, his team would surely lose. "Can we just not?" He glared continued to glare at him.

"Not what, Garen?" Darius took yet another step closer.

"God damn it, Darius," he grumbled and dropped his backpack to the floor, watching him with cautious eyes. This was the absolute last thing he needed. "What? Did I hurt your pride or something?"

They were face to face now; eye to eye. Darius was just a little bit taller, but it wasn't noticeable unless you examined their height. His green eyes staring into Garen's blue ones.

"What the hell-" But Garen was cut off when Darius closed the gap and pressed their lips together. Garen was stunned momentarily; eyes wide, muscles tense, heart slamming against his ribcage.

It was a second or two before Garen regained his sense and shoved Darius… hard. "What the hell?!" Garen shouted angrily, breathing hard, heart still pounding in his chest. His blue eyes were still wide and his face showed a more frightened expression than actually angry. Darius stood a few feet away, arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his face.

An awkward silence fell over the locker room. Both Garen and Darius stood there watching each other, neither of them moving for a few moments. "I'll see you around, Garen." Darius continued smirking as he turned and heading to the locker room door.

"Like hell you will," Garen growled, finally finding his voice again and trying to wipe the taste of Darius' lips off his own.

"Oh, I will," Darius looked back and gave a somewhat sinister grin before unlocking the door and leaving Garen alone in the locker room.

Garen stood there a second, finally processing everything that happened. He put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. It appeared his heart didn't want to stop hammering inside his chest. He pulled on a sweatshirt and threw his bag over his shoulder, leaving the locker room as quickly as he could.

A cool blast of air sent a shiver down his spine as he stepped outside. Retrieving his scarf, once again, from his backpack, he wrapped it around his neck. He buried his face into the blue scarf as he walked. Why on earth would Darius kiss him? And, what's more, why had he enjoyed it so much? He could feel what felt like a permanent blush on his face as he walked, the wind tugging the blue scarf around his neck as he went.


	2. Chapter 2

Garen didn't go to school the next day. In fact, he didn't go the next two days. The whole situation with Darius had him frazzled and downright freaked out. He wasn't sure what Darius' motives were, possibly to humiliate him somehow. Regardless of the actual intentions, the problem still stood, and, what's worse, was that Garen actually enjoyed the kiss. He kept remembering the feeling of Darius' lips - which were shockingly soft - on his own. It seemed no matter what he did, he couldn't get his mind off of him.

It wasn't until Friday afternoon when he received a text from Jarvan that he remembered all his responsibilities. "Dude, where the hell have you been? Coach is pissed!" Read the text from Jarvan.

Garen groaned aloud in his room. He had completely forgotten about football practice because all he had been thinking about the last three days was Darius and his lips. "I've been sick with the flu." Garen lied in his text.

"We have a huge game tomorrow, we need you."

Garen groaned again and rolled onto his side. "Alright, alright, I'll come now." He texted back before getting up.

He hadn't done anything except lay around his room the last three days. He figured he needed to shower and brush his teeth before going to practice. If he took a fast enough to shower, he could get to practice only a little late. But then again, he missed the last two days of practice… he figured the coach was going to be pissed regardless if he was thirty minutes late or forty minutes late. Garen removed his clothing and turned the shower on. He figured he was playing a dangerous game, but Coach was going to play him tomorrow no matter how many practices he missed.

Garen parked in the school parking lot and ran to the field. Perhaps a shower hadn't been in his best interest considering how cold it was. A strong breeze and wet hair did not mix, Garen decided, as he stepped onto the field already in his football uniform.

"Oh, pretty boy finally decided to show up," Coach taunted as Garen walked up to him.

"Sorry, Coach, I was ill the last two days," Garen lied, not feeling as bad as he thought he would about it.

"Just get your ass on the field," Coach grumbled and shooed him away.

Garen smiled slightly to himself as he jogged onto the field with his teammates to continue with drills. Just before Garen took his position he stopped. He felt a gaze on him and it made him uneasy. He turned his head and looked at the far end of the field like he knew exactly where to look.

Hanging out by the far end of the field, with basketball in hand, was Darius. Seeing Darius' emerald eyes staring at him made something snap in Garen. He pulled the helmet off his head, dropping it on the ground and headed towards him. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. He didn't care if he got yelled at, he needed to settle this here and now, even if it was in front of everyone.

"Crownguard?! Where are you going!?" Coach hollered from the sideline. Garen ignored him though, and marched straight over to Darius, anger apparent in his blue eyes.

Darius' blank expression turned into a cocky smirk once he saw Garen heading towards him, and that only made Garen more angry. "What the hell is your problem?!" Garen practically shouted as he stepped up in front for Darius.

"What? Am I not allowed to watch the football team practice?" Darius retorted, cocking smirk never leaving his face.

"No, you're not," Garen replied almost immediately, crossing his arms.

"Oh, yeah? Says who?" Darius asked, dribbling the basketball a little and looking around, as if to feign looking for the person in charge.

"Says me," Garen growled a little, glaring at Darius.

He stopped dribbling and held the ball. "Oh, really? What are you going to do if I don't leave?" Darius inquired, leaning in closer, that dumb, cocky smirk still on his face.

Garen dropped his hands to his side and clenched his fists, growling lowly, his blue eyes narrowing as he glared with the intensity of crashing waves.

"Do you really want to make a spectacle here, Garen?" Darius asked, spinning the ball on his finger. "You know if you fight me you'll get suspended and you won't be able to play in the big game tomorrow."

Garen clenched his jaw. Darius had him in a checkmate position. There was no way he could get Darius to leave without a fight. He unclenched his fists and crossed his arms once more.

"Here's the deal, I'll leave right now if you come to the basketball courts after you finish practice," Darius proposed, still spinning the ball on his finger, which, Garen had to admit, was an impressive amount of time.

Garen thought for a minute. What on earth could he want to do at the basketball courts at nine at night? All the lights should have been turned off by then, unless their was a game going. "Fine," Garen agreed. It was obvious he wasn't thinking clearly. Darius kissing him a few days ago really got under his skin and he just wanted Darius to leave.

"Alright," Darius gave Garen a cocky grin as he started walking backwards, "you better show or else you'll make me angry." His grin turned from cocky to borderline sinister. "Here, catch," He tossed the ball at Garen, causing him to fumble a little before catching it. "Bring it with you." Darius demanded before turning on his heel and walking off the field.

Garen spit on the ground in Darius' direction and set the basketball next to a nearby tree. He exhaled loudly before turning and heading back towards his team. By the way Coach stood there, scowl on his face and arms crossed, he knew he'd be given a hard time for doing that, but he didn't care. Darius pissed him off and he didn't want him watching while he practiced.

"What the hell was that, Crownguard?!" Coach yelled, storming up to Garen and stopping face to face. "First you miss two practices, then you come forty minutes late, and THEN you go to argue with that Darius punk?! What are you doing?!"

"Nothing," Garen sighed and walked past Coach and picked his helmet off the ground, "he was being a jerk."

"Who? The punk dribbling the basketball? He hasn't done anything. This is his third day watching practice. He just stands on the far end and dribbles while he watches." Coach told Garen as he knelt down to pick up his helmet and put it back on his head.

Garen sighed again. "Nevermind." He knew he was acting a little crazy, but Darius had put him on edge ever since they had kissed.

"Leave the punk alone and get back on the field," Coach growled and pointed towards his waiting teammates.

Garen sighed again and stepped back into position. He could feel all eyes on him as they waited for Coach to tell them what drills and plays to practice. He couldn't help but feel like he made a spectacle of himself by approaching Darius but… well… he couldn't quite help himself. Darius had never gotten under his skin like this before… and to think it was because of a kiss… The worst part was that Garen had actually liked kissing Darius, though, of course, he would never admit that to anybody.

Garen cursed under his breath. Darius had put him in quite the predicament. For whatever reason, he had agreed to meet Darius at the basketball courts after practice. He wasn't thinking clearly when he answered and now he'd have to go, otherwise Darius would probably fight him or something. He couldn't go and get suspended the day before a big game.

As Coach blew the whistle and the drills began, Garen couldn't stop thinking about the meeting with Darius he was to have in a few hours. He was a little fearful of what might happen when he went to meet him there, but again, there was this sickening feeling of excitement he felt at the thought of seeing Darius. There was no way he could be falling for Darius… was there?

No, of course not. There was no way in hell he could have feelings for such a terrible person. He was the biggest bully in the school and that disgusted Garen more than anything. The last thing the kids at Northern Rift High School needed was another problem to deal with.

But the longer practice went on, the more excited he felt about the meeting. He couldn't help himself. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, he wanted to go see Darius. He kept remembering the feeling of Darius' surprisingly soft lips against his own and it was making him flustered. Garen did his best to clear his head until practice was over.

Garen turned off the cold water and snatched a towel to quickly dry his hair then wrapped it around his waist and stepped out from the shower room and into the locker room. He opened his locker and dried himself as quickly possible before dressing.

"Woah, there, someone's in a hurry," Jarvan came up behind him and slapped him on the back, "you got a hot date or something?"

"Shut the hell up, Jarvan," Garen snapped as he put his shoes on and started tying the laces.

"Ooooh, touchy," Jarvan mocked, face all smug, "what's her name?"

Garen didn't respond, he simply rolled his eyes and pulled his backpack from the locker before shutting it and exiting the locker room. He was the first one out, which was a first for Garen. He must have made record time in there and it pissed him off that it was because of Darius.

His hair was still damp so when the wind blew, it sent a chill down his spine. He had forgotten just how cold it was at night these days and now he wondered if he should have take the extra few minutes to properly dry his hair. He picked up the basketball from where he had placed it next to the tree and left the football field.

He couldn't stop the clattering of his teeth as he made his way to the basketball courts so he decided to remove the scarf from around his neck and wrap it around his head. He probably looked absolutely ridiculous, but he was too cold to care. He looked down at the basketball in his hands as he walked. He wondered why Darius would toss it to him before he left.

The basketball court was in sight and Garen could feel his pulse rising. A part of him hoped Darius wouldn't be there so he wouldn't have face him, but the other part of him wanted nothing more than to see him waiting. Garen couldn't seem to make up his mind on the matter.

As he stepped through the gate with the chainlink fence, sure enough, Darius was sitting on one of the metal bleachers, playing on his phone. Garen could feel his heart hammering in his chest again as he stood there, frozen, with the basketball in his hands.

"Ah, so you finally arrive," Darius said, not looking up from his phone.

"C-Coach made us stay longer because I arrived late," Garen stammered a bit, juggling his weight from foot to foot.

"Is that so?" Darius stood and pocketed his phone before looking over at Garen who was standing awkwardly at the gate. "What the hell is on your head?"

Garen's face turned bright red when he remembered the scarf was wrapped around his head. He quickly took it off and held it with his free hand. "M-My hair was wet and it was cold…" He trailed off. It was at that point that he realized Darius was only wearing a light hoodie. It was certainly too cold to be out here like that.

"What are you staring at?" Darius demanded, crossing his arms. I He was slightly curled into himself, back to the wind while on his phone.

"It's way too cold to be out there like that!" Garen stepped forward and offered Darius his scarf.

He looked at it, clearly surprised by the gesture, but he didn't take it. "I'm fine, thanks."

"You're not fine, take it," Garen pushed the scarf into his hands.

Darius looked down at the scarf in his hands, disbelief still evident on his face. "Blue isn't my color-"

"Just wear the god damn scarf, Darius," Garen cut him off and shot him a glare.

Reluctantly, Darius wrapped the scarf around his neck and grumbled something Garen couldn't quite hear. Garen could see a small blush on Darius' cheeks and it made him grin. It was a rarity to see Darius do anything other than scowl.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face," Darius snapped and crossed his arms.

"We should probably go somewhere it isn't so cold-" Garen started, turning around and half pointing towards the school.

"Kiss me," Darius said bluntly, cutting Garen off mid-sentence.

Garen's heart nearly leapt into his throat. "W-What…" He gulped and turned his gaze back to find Darius' piercing green eyes staring directly at him.

"You heard me," Darius had that cocksure smirk back on his face.

"I… I…" Garen stammered, suddenly starting to sweat. "I… don't want to…"

"Bullshit," Darius replied almost immediately, taking a step closer, "kiss me, Garen. Or am I going to have to kiss you again?" He asked and pushed Garen up against the fence, knocking the ball out of his hands and sending it bouncing down the court.

Garen's heart was pounding in his chest so loudly he could have sworn Darius would have heard it. Darius' face was so close Garen could feel the breath on his cheek. "U-Uh…"

"What's wrong? I know you want this," Darius gave a cocky grin before pressing his lips to Garen's.

At first, Garen wasn't sure how to react. He didn't know if he should push Darius away or kiss back. So he decided to go with his gut and kiss back. For a few seconds they were lip-locked. Garen thinking of nothing else expect the taste and tenderness of Darius' lips against his own.

After a few moments, Darius pulled away from the kiss and Garen missed the touch almost instantly, slightly leaning after him to continue to feel the warmth but stopping as soon as he remembered who it was. "Told you you liked it," the cocksure smirk on his face was bigger than ever.

Garen stood there speechless. His cheeks were a light pink as he looked at Darius. Was it actually possible he enjoyed kissing Darius? Darius, of all people? The one he told himself time and time again that he hated? The one that always bullied kids and made their lives miserable? Was it actually possible?

"Give me your phone, I'm going to put my number in it," Darius finally released him from where he had him pinned against the fence and held out his hand. Garen fished the phone from his pocket and slowly set it in Darius' palm. He clicked a few buttons and slapped the phone against Garen's chest. "I'll text you when I feel like it," he grunted and left the basketball court. "Oh, and thanks for the scarf," he shouted over his shoulder and flipped Garen off.

Garen stood there, speechless. He clutched the phone against his chest and watched Darius walk off into the darkness. He didn't move for a few moments, listening to the wind rustle the leaves in the trees and the last cricket chirp in the chilly, fall night. What brought on this behaviour from Darius, he couldn't say for certain. But what he could say for certain - maybe not consciously - was that he loved it.

The phone vibrated in his hand, causing him to jump a little. The little screen lit up his face in the darkness showing only three words from a new number; Darius'.

"Fuck you, loser," the text read.

Garen texted back, "Fuck you too."


End file.
